I & II Timothy and Titus

This quarter’s Wednesday evening Adult Bible Classes are a discussion-style class studying I & II Timothy and Titus. Each week, The 66 Podcast will post a companion episode and a worksheet to help you prepare for Wednesday’s discussion.

A person’s last words are often significant. They measure one’s whole life. 2 Timothy 4 is the last inspired chapter Paul wrote. Writing from the prison cell that served as his final residence, the apostle gave three final admonitions to Timothy.

As Paul draws near to the close of his final address to Timothy, he gives the young minister sound advice for navigating the storms ahead. He warns Timothy that certain people among the congregation in Ephesus will soon begin to reject his gospel. To combat the misguided teachings of others, Paul encourages Timothy to hold fast to the example and to the gospel which he had learned from the apostle Paul.

The circumstances surrounding Paul’s second letter to Timothy are much different from those attending his first letter. Paul is now enduring his final imprisonment. He knows that the “time of his departure has come” (4:6). Maybe this is why he is so introspective as he begins what has been called “Paul’s Farewell Letter.” In chapter 1 Paul reveals what is going on in his soul.

In the last chapter, Paul encouraged Timothy, saying, “Let no one despise you for your youth” (4:12). Now the apostle turns to the other side of the coin and addresses the respect that should be shown for those who are older: “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father…older women as mothers” (5:1). How should the elderly be treated in the church? Paul discusses three examples so that Christians may learn how properly to respect this valuable group in the church.

The believers in Ephesus had a choice to make: listen to the words of faith from Timothy or listen to the words of deceit, myths, and meaningless debate from the false teachers. In this chapter, Paul encourages Timothy to stay immersed in the words of faith in order to combat the deceit in Ephesus and to win the souls of the Ephesian people.

1 Timothy 3 begins with Paul saying, “The saying is trustworthy.” All of the words the apostle Paul wrote by inspiration are important, but this introductory phrase suggests that he wants his readers to pay close attention to what he is about to say in 1 Timothy 3. Why? Because he is beginning a discussion on the qualifications of elders and deacons, a matter that has a powerful effect on the health and wellbeing of any congregation of the Lord’s church.

Having warned Timothy about the danger of distractions in the church at Ephesus, in 1 Timothy 2 Paul turns to the subject of order in the church. This same apostle wrote that “God is not a God of confusion but of peace” and commanded the church at Corinth, saying, “All things should be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:33, 40). His commands in 1 Timothy 2 are challenging in our libertine, “anything goes” society, but that doesn’t make them less true.

The church in Ephesus was very important to Paul. Paul had spent three years with this church, and now he has left it in the hands of his “true child in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2), Timothy. Paul met Timothy in Lystra on his second missionary journey. Timothy had learned about Christ from his Jewish mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5). Although his father was Greek, Timothy had become a Christian, and Paul was so impressed that he invited him to join him and the others as they continued their mission efforts (Acts 16:1-5). Timothy was a gifted preacher (1 Tim. 1:18; 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6), but like all of us, he struggled with weaknesses (1 Tim. 4:12; 5:23; 2 Tim. 1:7).

At the time of the writing of 1 Timothy, the church in Ephesus was struggling with a lack of focus. In 1 Timothy 1, Paul instructs his young friend on how to stay the course.